Snaps versus Velcro

It’s a modern day question – do you prefer snaps or Velcro? Many newbies to cloth diapering face this dilemma. Which do you choose? What are the benefits of each? Will people judge me by decision? Will this choice have an effect on my child’s self esteem? Okay, so the last two questions have nothing to do with snaps or Velcro, but what do you choose?

Many people are staunch snaps users, others Velcro. Myself… I think there is a time and place for both. Late night diaper changes may call for Velcro due to ease of use for zombie moms and dads. Snaps are better for the long haul of diaper laundering. Velcro, better for the timid babysitter, i.e. grandpa, who questions how to use those “hippie-dippie things.” Snaps prevent those grabby little fingers from removing the diaper… hopefully.

Snaps or Velcro don’t really matter the first couple of months of your baby’s life. Your child is a peaceful, placid, non-squirming baby blob who lays still for diaper changes. They coo and smile at you. The worse thing that happens when changing a diaper is that the kiddo springs a leak before you can get a new diaper on them. At this point, you may be washing an extra diaper, your hands, and your whole outfit, but you are not really worried about snaps or Velcro.

As your sleepy baby decides to wake up and become involved in the world around it, snaps and Velcro take on a new meaning. Suddenly the question becomes “do I choose snaps so that the baby can’t get the diaper off or do I choose Velcro so I can get the diaper on?”

For example, my 10 month old son loves to twist and shout. When he is on his back his arms and legs thrash about like a turtle turned upside down. He reaches with his left arm up over his right shoulder until he is on his belly ready to do his wounded soldier crawl away from me. At the same instant, my almost 3 year old daughter decides that it will be fun to try to get my son to chase her while I am unsuccessfully changing his diaper.

You can imagine, and probably have experienced, how difficult it can be to get a diaper on a moving target. This is where Velcro has come in handy. I grab the first Velcro diaper I can get my hands on and with two quick flicks of mommy’s wrists, the diaper is secure and more importantly ON.

Then as my son finishes chasing my daughter and is looking for something else to do, now keep in mind that he is still only in his diaper because it is also hard to dress a moving target, he finds the Velcro diaper. This is where snaps come in handy because, rip, rip and OFF comes the diaper. I quickly pick him up, re-attach the diaper, dress him and wonder what I am going to do when it is summer time.
So snaps or Velcro? I have stopped pondering the answer. Instead I ask if it is too early to potty train.

27 comments:

I preferred snaps until my son turned into a squirmy worm. It is so hard to get a diaper on him sometimes. He is constantly flipping to his tummy and flailing around.

Recently he's back to screaming through diaper changes, especially at bedtime and it's become a nightmare. It took me a good 5 minutes to snap his RaR tonight. I never got it right and I know it's going to leak, but I couldn't take the screaming any more.

I only have two night time dipes with snaps, but I will be ordering some more soon.

Were you at my house this afternoon? LOL….I traded a Flip that I was not so successfully getting on my 9 month old for a hook and loop Kawaii! I really wanted the Flip on her, for rotations sake…but I just couldn't get it on! So hook and loop it was and life was good again! Personally I like the snaps better. But in those situations, you do what you gotta do to get the darn thing on! Thank goodness she hasn't figured out that she can take it off! I think we'll have a naked summer if that's the case!

Hehehe, I'm going to start potty training in less than a month! But I prefer aplix! All the way. My son is really skinny so if he wears snaps the sides start drooping, while with the aplix it's stiff enough that it stays up. Plus, when he started taking the diapers off I simply started putting them on him backwards. Problem solved! And snaps are really difficult for my husband, and the people who watch my son occasionally, I mean really, they freak out enough about having to change the diapers (which I think is ridiculous, it's not like it's rocket science or even any harder then disposables)Oh, and people will judge you for your decision to do cloth. When I first decided to do cloth with my son, he wasn't even born and I made a bunch of REALLY CUTE diapers, and I was talking about how cute they were and wow, I didn't realize how many women have a deep seeded hatred for cloth diapers, they don't even realize how far the diapers have come, and yet they still hate them, even got mad at me for trying them. Really? They weren't going to be changing my baby, or paying for diapers, why did they care?

This was a great post! I couldn't stop laughing because we are almost there with my 8 month old squirmy-wormy daughter! I can't even get a sposie on her when she's so wiggly! I forgot how fast you have to be to get that diaper on a newly (or almost) mobile baby!!!

I think that I actually like the application of velcro but I hate it in the laundry. I like the customizable fit of velcro more, but the laundry trail and the way velcro wears out completely makes me nuts. So, I'm a reluctant snap fan.

I actually found my snaps EASIER for getting on a squirming baby. When I'm trying to do velcro, I'm trying to line it up, as he's trying to roll over. But even when he's half rolled over and in a weird position, I know where the snaps should be lining up, so I just SNAP. And I know when he rolls back over, it'll all line up fine.

I have skinny babies, and although I appreciate the durability of snaps, I find that I always get a better fit with velcro. My husband prefers velcro as well, so I'm always on the lookout for a new velcro dipe (it seems most use snaps these days).

thanks a ton for this little humorous post but it really does help we are having our first and we are planning on getting a mix of each but I often wondered if I chose wisely. So glad I will have a few of each in my stash.

I'm asking myself the same question! Is it too early to potty train my 13 month old who inevitably always squirms away while I'm trying to get the diaper on? Despite how adjustable velcro is, I still prefer snaps because of durability and because she is able to take off velcro diapers. Also, no matter how awesome those laundry tabs seem to work when a diaper's brand new, they always seem to wear out and then I end up with a tangled mess in the laundry.

I'm with you.. I don't really prefer either until a specific situation.. Like, velcro gets snagged on babygirl's pajamas, so i use snaps at night. But Velcro during the day is quicker and easier!! LOVE the blog!!

I am thinking about starting cloth diapering with my 3 1/2 month old. Which do you think would be better- snaps or velcro?? I am thinking snaps… she likes to wiggle around and when she's older I can see her ripping the velcro open!! I have recently begun following your blog. I am fairly new to the "blogging" world- you can check mine out at http://clopperhousehold.blogspot.com/.

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated!!! I am trying to get more followers, it seems to be difficult when starting out!!

@Connie,I actually do prefer snaps most of the time, but as you can read, aplix (velcro) does come in handy. Most of my aplix diapers are Kawaii OS pocket diapers that I have gotten with the Kelly's Closet free diaper with purchase coupons. (I love the bright colors of the Kawaii.) I have a combination of snaps and aplix.

As a mama of three with one more due this Spring, I love the snaps. They have lasted me through my children, whereas the velcro is really wearing out. I use one-size diapers, so the snaps are even more important since I am using them from birth until they children are using the potty. I've also found that they can't get off the snap diapers as easily as the velcro. That makes life a lot easier for mama 🙂

I hate velcro because of the diaper chains that happen in the washing machine, but they just give such a better fit than snaps. I do have a few snap diapers that I plan to try on the new baby, but it is definitely easier for daddy and the grandparents to use velcro diapers

My daughter only shed her velcro a couple of times and luckily she didn't cause a mess! Mostly it was in her crib. We found that even though it was warm in the summer, if we just put some knit shorts on her (because she often wore JUST a diaper), that she wouldn't bother them. Her fascination ended quickly, although we did invest in some snaps, just in case. Now another baby will have the added bonus of some cute snap diapers, too!

I started cloth diapering my son at 10 months. He is now 16 months I wish I would have made the switch sooner!

When I started looking into everything this was one question I struggled with and still do! I love snaps they are easy for me and I know my 16 month old cant rip it off 🙂 However I know velcro would be so much easier for my Mother in-law and husband, who both refuse to change him because of the snaps.

That being said Im still weary about velcro and the lasting power. I have heard horror stories about diapers not sticking very well after a few washes etc. So for now I think this Mom is sticking with snaps 🙂

My son was always cooperative for diaper changes, so the squirmy worm thing was never an issue for me. What WAS an issue was that he is lanky, so often snaps wouldn't fit quite right. I found with snaps, they would fit great for a few weeks and then I would either need to do them up a little bit too tight or a little bit too loose until he grew into the next size. Although I preferred using snaps for the easier laundering and durability, I ended up using my old velcro BG 2.0's most of the time because I could get a better fit.